Issue #40 - There is only hard work

Quite often, there isn’t a process. More than often, people ask for one.

The interesting thing about UX design tools is that each one helps you answer a type of question. Want to know what issues users are having that aren’t being picked up in Google Analytics? Do usability testing. Unsure what the sitemap and navigation elements of your site should be? Card sorting is your tool of choice.

I once spoke to Andy Budd of Clearleft, and he said to me that the key to being a good designer was matching what you want to know with the right method of discovering it.

There’s no user experience design template where you fill in the gaps. Each challenge is different and therein lies the skill of the designer - knowing what to do and when to do it.

Nikkel Blaase, Product Designer at XING suggests that UX design has to evolve to stay relevant in the future. Is the practice broken? “UX design is not just a service that makes things look pretty, but a profession that can add a lot of value to product development processes and strategic business decisions — something that has an impact on the success of the whole business.”

Calm founder Alex Tew talks about the challenges that come with designing a mindfulness-based app that confronts users with various mental health and wellness needs. Alex scratched his own itch and admits that “a product is never going to be perfect.” Have to try this app out!

Diogenes Brito, product designer at Slack talks about the first essential function of a designer: to facilitate others in refining and transmitting their own ideas. Much of my time is spent with others, bringing them along a journey and understanding their views. “We should be ambassadors for empathy and creativity, using and extolling the virtues of what David Kelley calls "design thinking.”“

Users visit your web-store and leave because they could’t find what they wanted. User should be able to navigate to the product they want, without issue. Look at usage data of your current site. What percentage of users interact with search, navigation and content. Then understand which of these methods leads to a sale. Maybe it’s a mix. Once you understand user journeys (there will be more than one!), you can then improve each in turn.

“A template site isn’t enough anymore” according to Lemonstand. Why do I think this is a fair statement? Each business has a unique set of users. Design for them. Also, no one is going to do the hard work for you. Innovate and you will lead.

Fjord have a wonderful working environment. It’s not fixed, it recognises the ability to work from anywhere and has the collaborative elements that make it easy to do good work. “We can turn a space from a row of desks to a dance floor in about 23 minutes.”

Nick Hussey talks about the mission of his company Vulpine and its intrinsic Britishness. He writes well too “There’s nothing quite like seeing your garments made, if you’re a designer and/or owner, to give you goosebumps. To meet the people involved. The gent who cuts the cloth, the woman who sews the buttons, the team who piece a jacket together. To see your fabric in huge rolls, becoming pieces stacked on a table, to the finishing product, held proudly for your inspection. There’s little that’s more addictive to a company owner like me.”

Would you pass a golden opportunity, even if you didn’t think you could win? “Dan Craven skipped his post-race massage after the Olympics road race, because he was done racing. He started eating ice cream in the athletes village. He even took a few sips of beer. Then he got a call: A time trial slot has opened up, do you want it?”